Take that: London homeowner takes colourful revenge over planning dispute

Locals in one of London’s most exclusive areas are up in arms after accusing a neighbour of painting a £15 million ($29 million) house like a ‘beach hut’ in an act of petty revenge following a planning dispute.

The residents of a pretty cobbled street in the heart of Kensington were stunned when they awoke recently to discover one of the houses had been transformed overnight.

Rather than fitting in with the other Georgian townhouses, the three storey property resembled a garish football strip with eight inch wide red and white stripes covering the entire front.

The frontage has been likened to a seaside beach hut. Photo: Geoff Pugh

The paint job came after the owner, multi-millionaire property developer, Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring, 66, lost out in a planning to dispute to turn the house into a so-called ‘iceberg mansion’ with a huge mega-basement.

Mrs Lisle-Mainwaring, who is thought to now live in Switzerland, had applied to have the house – which is currently used to store antiques – demolished and replaced with a five storey property boasting an underground swimming pool and cinema.

But neighbours objected, complaining that there would be too much disruption and the excavation work could lead to structural problems with their own homes.

Residents of the upmarket address accused Mrs Lisle-Mainwaring of turning the house into an eyesore in retaliation for their opposition to her plans.

Saskia Moyle, 18, an A level student at Latimer School who lives close by with her family, said: “It’s a real monstrosity- it sounds bad to say that it isn’t very Kensington but it just looks so weird.

“It’s sort of a cross between beach hut and circus. It was all pretty puzzling – I didn’t know what to think.”

She added: “My dad really doesn’t like it he thinks it’s an absolute monstrosity. It’s like a child throwing a tantrum just because she didn’t get what she wanted. It’s all a bit silly.

“It sounds bad to say it brings down the neighbourhood but quite a few tourists have been turning up to have a look. I think it’s trying to be as scandalous as possible.”

She went on: “This whole road has basically been united in its hatred of that house.

Another female resident, who asked not to be named, said: “She lost her planning permission at court. She was applying to put in a massive basement.

“It’s just her trying to get her own back. It’s ghastly, absolutely ghastly.”

But local residents could be powerless to force the owner to redecorate after the council said no planning laws had been broken because it is not a listed building.

A spokesman for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said: “We’re looking into it as we’ve received a number of complaints. It really seems as though there’s not much that can be done about it.

“We’re opening an enforcement case – that literally just means we’ve received complaints and will look into them.”

But he added: “We do not believe any rules have been broken.”

Lawyers for Mrs Lisle-Mainwaring refused to comment on the row.

A spokesperson said: “We have no comment to make, can you stop calling us?”